The former congressman told the judge that "these destructive impulses brought great devastation to family and friends, and destroyed my life's dream of public service. Yet I remained in denial even as the world around me fell apart". "This fall, I came to grips for the first time with the depths of my sickness". He said he continues to follow the treatment daily. "I had hit bottom". "Through treatment I found the courage to take a moral inventory of my defects". Weiner apologizes "for the personal mistakes I have made and the embarrassment I have caused".

Finished speaking, he wiped his eyes with tissues.

Weiner was already in federal custody ahead of the hearing, which lasted less than half an hour. Afterward, he shook hands with prosecutors, telling them: "Thanks, guys".

Abedin announced her separation from Weiner in August 2016.

Authorities last year began investigating reports that Weiner sent explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina.

A message left with a representative for Abedin seeking comment Friday morning was not returned.

He also agreed to forfeit his iPhone as part of the deal.

Weiner's attorney, Arlo Devlin-Brown, said in a statement that the former politician "accepted full responsibility for the inappropriate, sexually explicit communications he engaged in early past year".

"As reflected in the plea agreement, the resolution on terms far less severe than could have been sought reflect 'the specific circumstances of the offense conduct in this case, ' which did not feature aggravating factors often present in cases of this kind", Devlin-Brown said. He added that Weiner remains "focused on his recovery".

As part of the FBI investigation, agents seized his laptop computer, which had emails to his then-wife, Huma Abedin, a senior adviser to Clinton's presidential campaign.

October 28: In a letter to Congress, then-FBI Director James Comey says his agency is investigating whether there is classified information in newly discovered emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, now the Democratic presidential nominee.

That inquiry was brief. After reopening the probe, the Federal Bureau of Investigation determined the emails on Weiner's computer did not change the agency's decision that no charges should be brought against Clinton. But Clinton partly blamed her loss to Republican Donald Trump on Comey's announcement.

The two married in 2010, and in June 2011 Weiner resigned from Congress, a month after the release of an explicit photo of him that he inadvertently posted on his Twitter account.